Do you know what an abbreviation is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on abbreviations, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 29, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is an abbreviation?
According to Collins English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, an abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, where instead of using the whole word, only a part is used for convenience. This shorthand is easier to use than the full word. This is not to be confused with an acronym like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), UFO, SCUBA, SNAFU, UNICEF, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), RADAR, HIV, REM or LASER, which use the first letter of each word to form a new word or something that could use the last letters of a word. These are often used in British English and American English, and their abbreviated forms are written with a capital letter only. Abbreviations are commonly used for things like the days of the week or months of the year. The abbreviation of the word and is &, which is known as an ampersand.
Many different languages also contain words that mean abbreviation. You may notice that some of these translations of abbreviation look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of abbreviation is provided by Word Sense.
- Finnish: lyhenne
- Russian: сокраще́ние (neut.), аббревиату́ра (fem.), аббревиа́ция (fem.)
- Cyrillic: скраћеница (fem.), абревијација (fem.)
- Latin: abbreviātiō (fem.)
- Luxembourgish: Ofkierzung (fem.)
- German: Abkürzung (fem.), Kurzbezeichnung (fem.), Kürzel (neut.), Kurzform (fem.), Abbreviation, Abbreviatur (fem.)
- Maltese: abbrevjazzjoni
- Vietnamese: chữ viết tắt, từ viết tắt
- Tagalog: pagdadaglat
- Italian: abbreviazione (fem.), abbreviatura (fem.), acronimo (masc.)
- Roman: skraćenica (fem.), abrevijacija (fem.), kratica (fem.)
- Udmurt: вакчиятон
- Cornish: berrheans
- Norwegian: abbreviatur (masc.)
- Ukrainian: абревіату́ра (fem.)
- Faroese: stytting (fem.)
- Danish: forkortelse (common)
- Khmer: ពាក្យកាត់ (piek kat)
- Catalan: abreviatura (fem.)
- Esperanto: mallongigo
- Slovak: skratka (fem.)
- Irish: giorrúchán (masc.), nod (masc.)
- West Frisian: ôfkoarting (common)
- Belarusian: абрэвіяту́ра (fem.)
- Galician: abreviatura (fem.)
- Slovene: kratica (fem.), okrajšava (fem.)
- Polish: skrót (m-in)
- Welsh: talfyriad (masc.)
- Crimean Tatar: qısqartma
- Azeri: abbreviatura
- Icelandic: skammstöfun (fem.)
- Malay: singkatan
- Swedish: förkortning (common)
- Bokmål: forkortelse (masc.), forkorting (masc.) (f)
- Dutch: afkorting (fem.)
- Arabic: اِخْتِصَار (masc.)
- Indonesian: singkatan, abreviasi
- Korean: 생략, 약자
- French: abréviation (fem.)
- Hungarian: rövidítés
- Nynorsk: forkorting (fem.)
- Bulgarian: абревиату́ра (fem.)
- Scottish Gaelic: giorrachadh (masc.)
- Czech: zkratka (fem.)
- Armenian: հապավում
- Turkish: kısaltma
- Mandarin: 縮寫, 缩写 (suōxiě), 簡寫, 简写 (jiǎnxiě), 略語, 略语 (lüèyǔ)
- Greek: συντομογραφία (fem.), βραχυγραφία (fem.), σύντμηση (fem.), συντόμευση (fem.)
- Portuguese: abreviação (fem.), abreviatura (fem.)
- Spanish: abreviación (fem.)
- Volapük: brefod
- Egyptian Arabic: اختصار
- Ido: abreviuro
- Hindi: संक्षिप्तीकरण
- Hebrew: ראשי תיבות
- Romanian: abreviere (fem.), prescurtare (fem.), abreviație (fem.)
- Japanese: 略語 (りゃくご, ryakugo), 略字 (ryakuji), 略 (ryaku)
- Occitan: abreviacion (fem.)
- Asturian: abreviatura (fem.)
What are examples of common abbreviations?
An abbreviation can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of abbreviation that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these abbreviation examples from Your Dictionary and see how many you know!
- USA – United States of America.
- D.I.Y. – Do it yourself
- ATM – Automated Teller Machine
- S – south
- FT – FaceTime
- AM – ante meridiem
- tel. – telephone
- W – west
- DC – Doctor of Chiropractic
- FM – frequency modulation
- AFAIK – as far as I know
- SSA – The Social Security Administration.
- JD – Juris Doctor
- VP – Vice President
- ROFL – rolling on the floor laughing
- Ave. – Avenue
- Ln. – Lane
- CCC – The Civilian Conservation Corps
- est. – established
- approx. – approximately
- NY – New York
- gal – gallon
- St. – Street
- Cm – Centimeters
- no. – number
- COVID – COVID-19/Coronavirus
- lb – pound/pounds
- CMO – Chief Marketing Officer
- APA – American Psychological Association
- pt – pint
- BA – Bachelor of Arts
- AAA – The Agricultural Adjustment Act
- dept. – department
- MD – Managing Director
- EVP – Executive Vice President
- NE – northeast
- Oz – ounce
- tsp or t – teaspoon/teaspoons
- AFK – away from keyboard
- PA – Pennsylvania
- min. – minute or minimum
- CWYL – chat with you later
- FDIC – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
- misc. – miscellaneous
- Rd. – Road
- A.S.A.P. – as soon as possible
- tbs, tbsp or T – tablespoon/tablespoons
- FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation
- UK – United Kingdom
- apt. – apartment
- FHA – The Federal Housing Administration
- BS – Bachelor of Science
- R.S.V.P. – Répondez, s’il vous plait
- PA – Personal Assistant
- BBC – British Broadcasting Company (United Kingdom)
- CFO – Chief Financial Officer
- E – east
- CUL – see you later
- MA – Master of Arts
- temp. – temperature or temporary
- CA – California
- BRB – be right back
- AD – awesome dude
- B.Y.O.B. – bring your own bottle
- qt – quart
- NP – no problem
- ACE – a cool experience
- Dr. – Drive
- Blvd. – Boulevard
- N – north
- NW – northwest
- Cyn. – Canyon
- IDK – I don’t know
- vs. – versus
- CWA – The Civil Works Administration
- vet. – veteran or veterinarian
- Mr. – Mister
- LOL – laugh out loud
- IIRC – if I recall/remember correctly
- WC – wrong conversation
- IQ – ignorance quotient
- ANI – age not important
- E.T.A. – estimated time of arrival
- c – cup/cups
- TY – thank you
- TX – Texas
- M.PHIL or MPHIL – Master of Philosophy
- c/o – care of, used when sending mail to someone who’s not at their usual address
- SW – southwest
- appt. – appointment
- NRA – The National Recovery Administration
- HR – Human Resources
- SVP – Senior Vice President
- CD – compact disc
- SE – southeast
- Mrs. – Mistress (pronounced Missus)
- Laser – light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
- Kg – Kilo grams
- CEO – Chief Executive Officer
Overall, the word abbreviation is a shortened form of a word. The abbreviation of and is &, which is known as an ampersand. A type of abbreviation can also be an acronym. A standard abbreviation is often used for things like a unit of measure.
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